It's Come To This: Louisiana Student Investigated For Math Symbol, Classmates Thought It Looked Like A Gun

Matt Vespa | February 23, 2018 3:35 PM

Yeah, we’ve reached a new level of insanity. In Louisiana, a student was investigated for drawing a math symbol that fellow classmates thought was a gun. It was the square-root sign. It led to detective searching the student’s home on the grounds that terroristic threats were made. This student had to draw the symbol to complete the math problem (via Miami Herald):

Student investigated after allegedly saying a math symbol looked like a gun https://t.co/1HQo80RkAM pic.twitter.com/xxHeKvwYDc
— KATC TV3 (@KATCTV3) February 21, 2018

A discussion among students at Oberlin High School in Oberlin, La., about a mathematical symbol led to a police investigation and a search of one of the student’s homes, according to the Allen Parish Sheriff’s Office.
On the afternoon of Feb. 20, detectives investigated a report of terroristic threats at the school, where they learned that a student had been completing a math problem that required drawing the square-root sign.
Students in the group began commenting that the symbol, which represents a number that when multiplied by itself equals another number, looked like a gun.
After several students made comments along those lines, another student said something the sheriff’s office said could have sounded like a threat out of context.
Police searched the student’s home, where they found no guns or any evidence that he had any access to guns. Authorities also wrote there was no evidence the student had any intent to commit harm.